X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Join the Best Live Fantasy Chat Community!

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Week 4 Outfield Waiver Wire Targets

May is nearly upon us, Rotoballers, and your chance to pick up the best waiver wire targets is becoming thinner by the day. Outfield continues to be the most plentiful and still most competitive group to identify and grab the best available for the long haul. With so many spots to fill, finding the true asset among the chaff will put fantasy owners in a sweet spot as the season progresses.

As always, Rotoballer is looking for adds for both shallow and deep leagues, but don't let the deep targets pass you by if you're in a 10 or 12-teamer. A productive player is a productive player, regardless of their name, draft position, or, in one specific case, previous history. Names don't matter, only numbers.

With that said, here are the outfielders with numbers that made us double take over the last week. If you've got the roster space and good waiver position, any of these guys would make fine additions for your shallow or deep league. Don't get comfortable, don't stop adding, and always look for that baller move edge. Here are the week 4 outfield waiver wire targets.

Featured Promo: Get any full-season MLB and DFS Premium Pass for 50% off. Exclusive access to our Team Sync platform, Premium articles, daily Matchup Rating projections, 15 lineup tools, DFS cheat sheets, Research Stations, Lineup Optimizers and much more! Sign Up Now!

 

Week 4 Outfield Waiver Wire Targets

Brandon Belt (OF/1B, SF) - 47% owned

Don't say we didn't warn you. After two straight weeks on this column, Belt blew up. Over the last week, the first baseman knocked 4 home runs, 6 runs batted in, 5 runs, and a .368 average on just 19 at-bats. For good measure, he even produced the longest at-bat in major league history of 21 pitches! While that epic plate appearance didn't actually yield a hit, it's actually more telling for his season-long performance than the pop produced over the last week.

Belt is seeing the ball extremely well, and making great contact when he's at the plate. And, as we've mentioned in the past, when he connects with the ball, it's coming off the bat harder than it has in his entire career. Belt has always been a wildly underrated player due to the lack of counting stats, but this may be the year that this is put to rest. Still available in more than half of fantasy leagues, if he's out there, don't wait.

 

Mallex Smith (OF, TB) - 32% owned

Mallex Smith, the diminutive Rays center fielder, is still raking. Over the last week, Smith has hit 7-for-21 with four more runs and another steal. He hits for almost zero power, but remains a solid three-category producer. His value will be capped as the season wears on due to the lack of pop in the Rays lineup, but he just keeps hitting. It's not a totally empty average, either, as Smith has true 80-grade speed and can steal 30 bags easily. He's this generation's Rajai Davis, and he's going to be getting all the run at center with Kevin Keirmaier on the mend and the Rays tanking like it's their job.

 

Jackie Bradley Jr. (OF, BOS) - 28% owned

Advertising

Boston's jack-of-all-trades outfielder has had a sub par 2018 thus far, but over the last week has shown signs of putting it all together. While his season line of .224/.316/.373 leaves a lot to be desired, he hit .300 with five runs batted in and his first two home runs on the year. His batting average on balls in play sits at a minuscule .241, more than 60 points below his career average. His batting line is bound to recover as that BABIP normalizes.

Bradley is hitting for solid contact and, at this point, below average pop. He's seeing the ball well and has improved over 2017, as 73.2% of his cuts are coming against pitches inside the zone. He's also making better contact on those pitches, to the tune of a career-best 83.7%. No one is expecting a rebound to his 2016 All-Star campaign level, but there's potential that Bradley's luck turns around and he becomes a solid contributor across the board while not hurting your average or strikeout metrics.

 

David Dahl (OF, COL) - 26% owned

A preseason favorite of mine, Dahl has been recalled to get run in left field in Colorado. At one time, Dahl was mentioned among the most exciting prospects in baseball, but a run of bad luck on the injury front has reduced the shine on the talented outfielder. Now, he returns to the Rockies hoping to recapture the magic that led to a .315/.359/.500 line across 237 at-bats in 2016.

No one really knows what Dahl will be while taking his first major league cuts after a disastrous rib injury cost him most of 2017. There's a real chance that the rib issue, plus a nasty stomach bug that made him lose 10 pounds, keep him from getting any power on his swing early. Dahl has also had some swing-and-miss to his game, and has been fairly dependent on a strong BABIP for that shiny .315 average. But for all of the potential faults, Dahl represents one of the most physically talented young players in baseball, with a speed and power combo that fantasy owners drool over. A 20/20 season is very realistic, with a lot of room to go beyond if his pop returns sooner. This will be the last chance owners have to jump on him, especially if he plays well.

 

Jason Heyward (OF, CHC) - 5% owned

Ok, ok, ok, I realize this one is a little nauseating. Many of us, including numerous Rotoballer staffers, have been badly burned by the once highly regarded prospect. And on that note, does anyone remember the level of hype surrounding Heyward's promotion in 2010? He was the next great superstar, in the same vein as guys like Ken Griffey Jr. A dynamo who could field with the best ever while providing elite power, 20-steal speed, and average near .300. He was a wunderkind. Unfortunately, the middle-of-the-order power never fully developed, the hit tool didn't completely translate, and Heyward has actually been more valuable for his glove than his bat. And, after a disastrous 2017 that saw the 28-year-old rack up 11 home runs and just 4 steals with a line of .259/.326/.389 across 481 at-bats. Both fantasy owners and the Chicago Cubs have found Heyward disappointing, to say the least.

Now, fast forward to three weeks into 2018, and (deep breath) Heyward looks pretty good. Across 72 at-bats, the outfielder has produced a line of .262/.352/.410 with a pair of homers, no steals, thirteen runs scored, and fourteen runs batted in. These numbers may seem a tad pedestrian, but there's a surprising amount of positive signs. For one, Heyward is striking out and walking at the exact same rate, 11.1% of his at-bats. Secondly, and take this with a grain of salt as these numbers don't tend to normalize until about 100 to 120 at-bats, Heyward is actually connecting with the third-highest hard hit percentage of his career. Finally, and this is the most interesting metric, Heyward is hitting fly-balls on a whopping 48.1% of contact, more than 16% over his career rate. So, to summarize, the Cub is making harder contact, better contact, and putting those balls in the air at a rate we've never seen from him. Luckily for fantasy owners, it'll no longer take a middle round pick to wait and see.

 

More Waiver Wire Pickups and Streamers




Advertising

LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

WIN MORE IN 2024

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Pickups & Streamers
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

ROTOBALLER PLAYER NEWS

RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Alexis Diaz fantasy baseball closers rankings draft sleepers waiver wire pickups

MLB Closers and Saves: Fantasy Baseball Depth Charts

Saves are an important component for many fantasy baseball leagues. Closers are one of the most volatile positions in fantasy baseball, and one of the highest turnover positions in MLB. Each year, closers drop like flies and many MLB teams make in-season changes due to injuries or poor performance. In addition to closers and saves, relief... Read More


Do These Prospects Matter for Fantasy Baseball?

The 2023 fantasy baseball season has been highlighted by the promotion of nearly two-dozen top prospects to the major leagues to impact fantasy rosters. This week's edition features one player who was called up as the piece was being written. Will these strong performers join the ranks of those who have moved to the majors... Read More


clayton kershaw fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

articles report test

this is a test


Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome back! It's Week 24 of our fantasy baseball Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups series! There are just two precious weeks left, and every start is becoming more and more important as most of the fantasy baseball world is in playoff matchups. If you've made it this far, there's a good chance you don't really... Read More


Aaron Nola - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Starts & Sits for MLB Week 23 - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers! Big week in fantasy leagues as we approach the end of the season and playoffs! As always, we are here with our starting pitcher starts and sits series to help you set those winning lineups for the week ahead! For those who are not familiar, RotoBaller puts out a weekly grid of... Read More


Gunnar Henderson - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Prospects, Draft Sleepers

Points League Hitters: Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome to Week 24 and our fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters. We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform,... Read More


Brayan Bello - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Yo, it's Jon Anderson, continuing to run the show here in terms of late-summer fantasy baseball writing. There are just two weeks left of streaming pitchers, so let's make it count! This weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups column aims to identify starting pitchers expected to make two starts in the upcoming fantasy baseball week,... Read More


Fantasy Baseball Week 24 Injury News and Updates: Tyler Glasnow, Ozzie Albies, Starling Marte, Anthony Rizzo, Zack Wheeler

September is now more than half over. The baseball season is slowly coming to a close. At this point, fantasy players are pushing for their league titles or just playing for pride. Major League Baseball teams continue to do the same and injuries continue to happen, now with the dreaded term "done for the season"... Read More


Joe Musgrove - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/17/22)

Happy Saturday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/17/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Today's MLB slates are split up as is the norm for September baseball. Half the guys I think will play will not, so you have to be as flexible as Gumby to play MLB DFS in September, but that also means that there is a lot of money out there should you dare to dive... Read More


Max Fried - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/15/22)

Happy Friday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


Robbie Ray - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, Draft Sleepers

DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/16/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Fridays are big MLB DFS days and offer a nice respite from the NFL, who command our attention on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. This slate, like most Friday slates, is a big one as all MLB teams are in action today and 28 of those teams are on tonight's 14-game DFS slate. This was a... Read More


kyle farmer fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

There are only two weeks left of fantasy baseball! It's going to be very sad when the season comes to an end, but the impending end of the season means that these are the most important, and therefore most fun weeks of the year – for those of you still competing, at least. I have... Read More


TODAY’S MOST VIEWED PLAYERS

rotating JS ad test

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

test publish 5 mins in future

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Updates for Aaron Rodgers

Warning: Undefined array key "amp_post_template_footer" in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 Warning: foreach() argument must be of type array|object, null given in /var/www/rotoballer.com/wp-content/plugins/php-code-for-posts/Classes/Shortcode.php(91) : eval()'d code on line 6 Editor's Note: Our incredible team of writers received five total writing awards and 13 award nominations by the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, tops in the... Read More


derrick henry fantasy football rankings news NFL DFS lineup picks

PrizePicks NFL DFS Picks - Monday Night Football

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is finally underway and that means our friends over at PrizePicks have a TON of great props we can look to take advantage of. PrizePicks is a great DFS picks site where you can choose to select plays in terms of fantasy points or single stats. The... Read More


Justin Jefferson - Fantasy Football Rankings, DFS Lineup Picks, NFL Injury News

NFL DFS Prop Picks for Monkey Knife Fight - Monday Night Football

Welcome to NFL Monday Night Football, where we have two games scheduled between the Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles and the Tennessee Titans vs. Buffalo Bills.  Monday's games mean our friends at Monkey Knife Fight are offering some fantastic props for us to play once again! The good people at Monkey Knife Fight offer some... Read More


D'Andre Swift - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL RBs: Week 2 Updates for Najee Harris, J.K. Dobbins, D'Andre Swift, Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram

Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for running backs in Week 2, as of September 17. The injury statuses for various NFL running backs are up in the air for Week 2 including D'Andre Swift, Najee Harris, Alvin Kamara, J.K. Dobbins, and more. The fantasy football season may be just getting underway,... Read More


michael pittman jr. fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports For NFL WRs: Week 2 Updates for Michael Pittman Jr., Mike Evans, Tee Higgins, Allen Lazard, Julio Jones

Welcome to Week 2 of the fantasy football season and the Saturday edition of our WR injury reports! Below you will find our fantasy football injuries report for wide receivers in Week 2 as of September 16th. The injury statuses for various NFL wide receivers are up in the air for Week 2, including Michael... Read More


justin herbert fantasy football rankings NFL DFS lineup picks

Fantasy Football Injury Reports for QBs: Week 2 Updates for Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, Mac Jones

Below you will find our updated fantasy football injuries report for quarterbacks in the days before Week 2 of the 2022 NFL season as of Friday, September 16. There are a few NFL QBs dealing with injuries, including Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Jameis Winston, and Mac Jones. Being up-to-date on NFL injury news can give... Read More


Trey Lance - Fantasy Football Rankings, Draft Sleepers, NFL Injury News

Key Starters and Tough Calls - Lineup Spotlights for Fantasy Football Week 2

Every week, I share some of my favored choices and players to go with when dealing with challenging lineup decisions. These selections are based on my Premium Weekly Lineup Rankings, available as part of the RotoBaller NFL Premium Pass. Enter promo code KING at checkout for a discount and get access to my ranks in all formats, plus... Read More


Saquon Barkley - Fantasy Football Rankings, NFL Injury News, Draft Sleepers

Week 2 NFL Pick Em Selections for No House Advantage

Hello everybody and welcome! The 2022 NFL season is underway and that means our friends over at No House Advantage have a TON of great DFS plays we can look to take advantage of. No House Advantage is a unique DFS prop picks site where you do not have to play against the house to... Read More


Wide Receiver Matchups to Target in Week 2: Greg Dortch, Terry McLaurin, Christian Kirk

Week 1 made some things come to light as we got some clarity on some murky situations. Unfortunately, many of our WR targets for DFS last week were victims of this. Robert Woods finished the game with one reception for 13 yards, as the Titans used the rookie receivers much more than him. Brandon Aiyuk... Read More


Carson Wentz - Fantasy Football Rankings, Waiver Wire Pickups, Draft Sleepers

Thunder Dan's NFL Betting Picks for Week 2: Top NFL Player Props Bets

Football season is back! Whether you like to bet game totals, sides, or player props, I have something in here for you, and try to cover a little bit of everything! This year, I started my own free sports betting newsletter, and the good people here at RotoBaller are allowing me to share my picks... Read More


Fantasy Football IDP Injury Reports For NFL Defensive Players: Week 2 Updates for T.J. Watt, Jamal Adams, Jalen Thompson, Ed Oliver

T.J. Watt owners, you know the feeling... I had T.J. Watt in my home league last season. He was constantly checking out of games early with nagging minor injuries, but he must have led every IDP manager who started him to the playoffs. I went back to the well and drafted him early this year.... Read More